2nd explosion kills 2 in Bolivian town hit by weekend blast

February 14, 2018

LA PAZ, Bolivia (AP) — An explosion killed two people and injured 10 Tuesday night in the same Bolivian town where eight people died and 40 were injured during weekend Carnival celebrations by a blast that has been blamed on a leak in a gas canister, authorities said.

Interior Secretary Carlos Romero said three people had been detained after the latest explosion while authorities investigate its cause.

The blast occurred in the Altiplano region town of Oruro a block from where an explosion happened Saturday night. Romero said investigators were still studying the first blast to see if it was due to a bad connection on a gas canister as originally thought.

Romero said Tuesday night’s explosion dug a crater of “significant dimension” and was not believed to have been caused by a gas leak.

He said a Bolivian couple whose car sustained significant damage from the blast was taken into custody pending the investigation. A third person was detained a short time later, he said.